The Crimes We've Commited
by Ceresava
Summary: A Jellicle History. Main Characters: Grizabella, Victoria, Bombalurina. T rating for later chapters.
1. Hinc Illae Lacrimae

The Crimes We've Committed

A Jellicle History

Chapter One – Hinc Illae Lacrimae

_What a horrible fate we have destined ourselves to-_

_Is there anything we can do to reconcile ourselves?_

_Her name was Victoria. She was a kitten just coming of age. A gifted dancer, a wonderful singer, a talented child in so many ways. She was the one with the open heart, the caring mind, the child-like innocence. Maybe she saved us all. After all, we have been doomed to this fate since the day the first of us set foot in this world. Maybe she changed it._

A tall blonde girl with stunning blue eyes and light freckles ran through the village, the hem of her skirt flittering about in the breezing.

"Mary!" Her name stopped her dead in her tracks, turning around to face the speaker. "Oh, Mary, I've been waiting for you all day. Where are you headed?" The speaker further inquired. Mary edged forward, still in very much of a hurry to get where she was needed.

"The market." She admitted quietly; know there would be a task for her to carry out.

"Oh, lovely. Take my hen." Mary bit her lip as the chicken was offered to her. "We can split anything you get." Nodding to the speaker, Mary took the chicken and continued on her way to the market.

ooo

"Oh, salvation." A tall girl muttered, moving through the hall and dragging her fingers along the edge of the seeing pool.

"Freya, love, if you're going to swear you might as well swear." Freya jumped as her companion appeared in front of her, leaning on the marble statue.

"Terpsichore, you scared me." She said, turning back to the pool.

"What are our favorite little troublemakers up to this time?" The muse asked, moving forward from the statue.

"They sent the child to the market again." Freya mumbled, rubbing her temples. The people of the village they called Nativity where her burden to bear. She, one of many lower deities, had been given a single village to watch. Even Terpsichore, the muse of dance, had more power and responsibility than she did. Freya, the lower deity and haphazard person she was, could not even keep a village of thirty odd people in line. Terpsichore shook her head.

"They're going to exile you." The muse said as she watched Mary grab things off carts as her chicken caused general chaos.

"Oh, Terpsichore, don't say that! I'll make them better, you'll see." Freya said quietly as Mary took the chicken from a stranger and nodded her thanks, then retreating from the marketplace with his goods hidden in her basket.

"I'll give them a month." Freya jumped as the new voice spoke, turning to see Juno, her overseer. "Although I doubt an entire town of thieves can change their ways, even with a goddess to help them." Freya nodded as she caught her breath.

"Yes, Juno." She said, bowing in respect.

"Terpsichore, you're needed." He informed the muse, who had been watching Mary and the owner of the chicken split the goods.

"Yes, Juno." She said automatically, bowing her head and standing to follow him.

"A month." Juno reminded Freya, who was biting her lip to keep from crying. Her town, her power, her followers! She was going to loose everything in a month's time.

ooo

Mary had left the hen owner's house with a few onions and part of a head of lettuce for that night's dinner. As she returned home, her brother welcomed her warmly.

"Mary! How was your day?" He asked, ushering her into their cottage.

"As my days always are, Jacob." She said, placing the vegetables on an old tin plate on the table. "Stealing things, lying to people." She shook her head.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Mary." Jacob assured her, placing the rest of the food they had to spare out on the table.

"Why the feast?" Mary inquired as she swept the floor. So much work to be done in such a little time, it made her head spin.

"We're having company." He replied with a vague smile.

"Company?" She racked her brain for a second before giving up. "Who?"

"Daniel and Meredith." He replied simply, finishing with the table. Mary made a face. "What?" Jacob asked, laughing. "You don't enjoy their company?" Mary shook her head, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"Meredith's fine. It's her sister that gets to me." She said with a shrug.

"Britney? I like her." He said quietly, frowning.

"I know you do." Mary said, smiling slyly. "But little Miss Perfect gets way to much attention for my tastes."

"Oh, so you're jealous?" He poked at her, rather annoyed with her at the moment.

"I was the best singer in town 'til she and her sister showed up." Mary mumbled quietly. Competition in Nativity was a natural. Everyone wanted to be the best at something, whether it be dancing, singing, writing, or cooking. Moreover, everyone was the best at something, since they tried so hard.

"You're still the best dancer, Mary." Jacob assured her quietly.

"So, is it true?" Mary asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Is what true?" Jacob asked, pure confusion lurking in his dark eyes.

"That Daniel is courting Meredith now." Mary explained, finishing her chores and settling down on her bed, looking up at her brother who was fixing flowers in a vase for a centerpiece.

"Oh." He said, thinking for a moment. "I guess we'll find out soon enough." He said with a shrug, putting the vase on the table. Mary laughed. There was a knock at the door.

"I suppose that's them." She said, standing up to get the door.

"I suppose it is."

ooo

"We've got to stop." A fiery redheaded woman said, her brown eyes sparkly with determination and her hair curling more than normal. Her freckles also seemed bolder than usual.

"I don't see what you're going at." Her tall companion said slowly, moving to the other side of the prayer building.

"Glenn, we need to stop stealing things." She insisted, following him across the room.

"Catherine, believe me, I'd love it if we could persuade everyone to stop, but we depend on what we take." Glenn insisted, turning to face her with a sigh.

"You can." Catherine insisted, pushing her stubborn hair out of her face. "The townsfolk will listen to anything that you say."

"No, Catherine, I can't." He said firmly, putting up a hand for her to stop. "Why is this so urgent, anyway?"

"I heard it from Freya."

ooo

"Poison." A tall redheaded woman explained calmly. The short girl behind her was anything but calm.

"Poison? I've been poisoned?" She said, her dark brown hair slipping into her face as she sat up.

"Sallie, dear, if there was one person that might labeled as a thief in this town, it would be you. You're not exactly discreet." She informed the girl as she washed her dishes.

"So the storeowner knew I was going to steal the chicken leg and he poisoned it?" She asked yet again. The redhead turned around to look at her. The girl's face was rounder than normal and she had a button nose that was currently creased with worry.

"Don't worry, dear. You'll be fine."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Aunt Julia. It's Judd." She said, pointing to her friend who was sprawled out on the other bed in Julia's guest room. "He's really bad."

"Judd will be fine, dear." She assured the girl, who lay down again.

"But we got poisoned." She murmured, hugging her blanket.

"It's mild poison, dear, you'll be fine." Julia assured Sallie, continuing with her cleaning.

"But…" She began, but Julia shushed her and told her to go to sleep. Sallie obliged reluctantly.

ooo

The rest of the evening passed rather normally for Mary and her brother, after their guests left. Mary was now sitting on her bed, writing in her journal.

"What is it you write every day?" Jacob inquired warily, lifting his head off his pillow.

"Things I need to remember. You need to go to market tomorrow to get some things." She added, grabbing the chance to assign thieving duty to him for once.

"Why don't you do it?" He asked, burying his face in his pillow.

"I've done it every day this week!" She said in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Fine, fine. I'll go tomorrow." He finally agreed, shaking his head. "You always get better food than I do, though." Mary laughed and blew out her candle, drifting off to sleep.

ooo

"Spare an apple?" Catherine asked, drawing her dark brown cloak to her face and holding out a frail hand. The shopkeeper shook his head, bidding her to move onward. "I'm sure that somebody here would be willing to give a poor woman an apple." Catherine told him bitterly as a costumer occupied his attention. She reached to take the apple anyway. As her fingers brushed the fruit, a strange sensation passed down her spine. She though briefly of leaving the apple, but grabbed it anyway, hiding it under her cloak as she left.

ooo

"No!" Freya's crisp voice rang through the hall as she slammed her palms down on the marble ledge she'd be looking over. Even her most faithful follower had failed to keep her filthy hands off of other people's goods. "Terpsichore! I need you." She yelled, causing the muse to appear in front of her.

"Freya!" She gasped as she stumbled forward. "I was in the middle of something." The muse said bitterly, catching the taller girl's elbow as she fell forward.

"Sorry…" She mumbled, moving back the ledge.

"Looks like she took it." Terpsichore said blandly, brushing a lock of black hair out of her eyes. Freya shook her head.

"Hence these tears." She replied, brushing a tear off her cheek.

"Oh, Freya. I'm sure nothing too bad will happen." Terpsichore insisted, moving away from the ledge.

"It's been two weeks. I'm running out of time." Freya murmured. "And things aren't getting any better."

ooo

"Town meeting." A tall girl with red-brown hair scoffed as she exited her house, dragging her sister along behind her. Her sister looked almost nothing like her with light brown hair and a demure face, nothing like her sister's stubborn chin. The only feature they shared were their blue eyes.

"Jennifer, please." The younger sister said to the redhead, who had a very tight grip on her wrist.

"Sorry, Morgan." She mumbled, dropping the girl's wrist. "Here we are." She added as they arrived at town hall.

"Ah, good morning. Jennifer, Morgan." Glenn said slowly, nodding to the girls.

"It's more like afternoon now." Jennifer pointed out, forcing a smile and pushing her way into the crowded hall. They took a seat and waited for the meeting to start in silence. Finally, Catherine took the stand, ready to give her address.

"A few weeks ago, Freya told me that it was crucial we stop stealing from others." There was verbalized scorn floating about the hall by that point, but the fiery redheaded woman pushed on. "She told me that if we didn't stop, we'd be punished severely."

"And we're supposed to believe you?" A voice rang out. Catherine looked up.

"Why shouldn't you? You've always believed me before." She said slowly, stepping off the stand.

"Well, this time, we don't." Jennifer said crossly, her hands on her hips.

"Well, you may do what you like, but I'm leaving and changing my ways. I don't want to die." She said, gritting her teeth and exiting the hall. All eyes were now on Glenn, who'd been standing in the entrance.

"Sorry for the interruption. Go about your normal activities." He said hastily, ducking out the door. The hall exploded into argument again- between those who believed Catherine and those who didn't. In the end, however, everyone agreed that there was no threat and the remaining week continued as the weeks before it. And even though Catherine left, she continued thieving as well.

ooo

"They've made their decision." Juno announced to Freya on the last midnight. She nodded slowly, biting her lip. "And now, they will be punished. Bast, you're needed."

"Bast?" Freya questioned, curious. What use would she be of?

"Yes, Juno?" The woman asked, bowing deeply as she stepped into the hall.

"Come help me with this task." He said, explaining to her briefly what she was to do. "And now, Freya, we need to talk." Freya nodded, still confused. "What I've done is this. I've turned your villagers into cats."

"Cats?" She coughed, disguising a laugh. What sort of punishment was that?

"They will decided yearly on a citizen to send to us for re-evaluation. If I find that the citizen in question has learned right from wrong, then they will be sent back to their village. If they haven't, then they will be replaced with the rest of the cats for another year." He explained slowly. Freya's brow was lined with thought. It still didn't seem like much of a punishment, but then again, there must be a catch.

ooo

Yay, first chapter. This probably made little to no sense to you… and I'm sorry. Next time you see them, they'll actually be cats! ; Props to anyone who can guess who is who.

Edit/ ACK! The separates disappeared. Fixed it, sorry guys.


	2. Familar Voices, Forgotten Names

The Crimes We've Committed

A Jellicle History

Chapter Two – Familiar Voices, Forgotten Names

_Falling. The rush of air against your skin, the rush of emotion, panic._

_Falling. It's true what they say about your life flashing before your eyes._

_Falling. It's actually not so bad, after you get used to it. You could fall forever if it wasn't for-_

_Impact._

Rumpelteazer awoke with a start, her face smashed against the hard concrete. Odd, she noted, as she didn't remembered- _falling._

As she thought the word, there was a temporary rush of memory. Afterwards, everything was gone. She remembered remembering, but not what she remembered.

"You alright?" She jumped, turning. As she turned, she felt relieved. It was just Mungojerrie.

_Wait,_ She thought, standing up and walking over to him in spite of herself. _Who's Mungojerrie?_ She was so confused. Her head throbbed and she shook it.

"Who are you?" She asked finally, in a forced voice. Her body willed her not to say it, but she spat the words out as fast as she could, and as soon as she did the tension was over.

"Teaza', it's just me. Mungojerrie." He said, offering her a paw. She recognized the voice, but…

"No, your name is... Ja- ja…" She stuttered, her tongue not moving to her will.

"Jerrie?" He offered, helping her up.

"No, Ja… ja… Jeff? No. Ja… ja…" He shook his head and laughed.

"You should lay down, Sallie." She jumped.

"What did you call me?" She demanded, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Teaza'… Is that not okay with you?" He asked, suddenly worried.

"No… no, it's fine." Rumpelteazer said, biting her lip.

ooo

"Juno!" Freya called, leaning over her ledge to get a better view of her new cat-subjects.

"What is it?" He asked irritably, walking over to her.

"I think something's wrong. The new memory is lapsing." She said, watching as the two black and orange striped cats talked.

"No, it'll be fine. It'll set in. The first few days might be rough, but it'll be okay." He assured her, watching as well.

"I'm not sure, Sallie seems really bad." She said, pointing to the girl cat.

"Some might not take it as well as others, but they'll get used to it."

"As you say, Juno." Freya said with a bow.

ooo

"I got dinner, Victoria." A voice called out. Victoria lifted her head up off her current bed. She had a horrible headache.

"Did you steal that?" She immediately demanded of her brother as he offered her a piece of chicken.

"I've never stolen anything in my life." Mistoffelees said, slightly shocked. Victoria thought for a second.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." She offered, taking the chicken.

"It's alright. Everyone's been a little off today."

ooo

"Town meeting tomorrow." Demeter reminded her sister as she straightened their den out.

"No, that was a few days ago." Bombalurina reminded her absently.

"No, Bombalurina, the Ball is tomorrow." Demeter said, giving her a concerned look.

"The… ball? Right, of course it is. I thought you said something else." Bombalurina said slowly, standing up.

"Oh. Well, come help me with this, it's so messy." She fretted, trying to mend a cardboard wallboard.

"Demeter, dear, we live in a rotting cardboard box. It's always messy." Bombalurina reminded her, moving to help with the wall nonetheless. Demeter pushed up a flap of soggy paper. The print was still legible, and Bombalurina took the chance to flaunt her skills in reading human words. "Morgan Industries." She said simply.

"Mhmm?" Demeter asked as causally as if somebody had called her name. Bombalurina's nose twitched.

"Something weird is going on." She murmured to herself.

"What?" Demeter asked, looking up from her word now.

"I asked you why we were tiding up." Bombalurina covered quickly, sitting down again. Demeter blushed noticeably.

"Munkustrap is coming over to visit." She mumbled so quietly that Bombalurina almost didn't hear her. The red queen smiled vaguely.

"We're re-walling our box because Munkustrap is coming to visit." She poked at Demeter, laughing quietly.

"Try not to make me sound like an idiot." She squeaked, finishing the wall up.

"When have I ever done that?" Bombalurina asked her golden-furred sister as if offended.

"The last time Munkustrap visited-"

"There was a fly on your forehead!"

"And the time before that-"

"It's not my fault your mouse wasn't dead!"

"At the last ball-"

"He tripped over _me!_"

"And that one time we all went mousing-"

"Anyone could have mistaken that thing for a mouse!"

"I think I've made my point." Demeter finished crossly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll just leave while you two talk." Bombalurina said, feeling beaten through and through. Demeter gasped and made a face.

"Oh, no, Lurina, please don't! I'd make a fool of myself!" Demeter mumbled, hiding her face with her hands.

"More than I will?" Bombalurina asked bitterly, turning back to her sister.

"Yes." Demeter squeaked, peaking at Bombalurina through her fingers.

"Why do you keep inviting him over if it's so hard for you?" She questioned, settling down on her bed again.

"I don't," She groaned, sitting next to her sister and curling up by her side. She always felt warm with her sister to protect her. "We're both on the Youth Council. Kind of like the elders-"

"But not old. I know about that." Bombalurina said with a nod. "Why didn't you tell me?" Demeter shrugged. There was a stinging silence between the two of them.

"Bombalurina? Demeter? Are you guys home?" A voice came from outside.

"Yup." Bombalurina said, letting Munkustrap in. "Although, I was just on my way out."

Demeter's stomach tied itself into the tightest knot she could imagine.

"Oh, alright…" Munkustrap said, moving aside so the red tabby could leave. Demeter's face hadn't relaxed and she was sure she looked like an idiot. "So, we need to talk about…" He began, taking a seat on an old book they kept for something of couch. Demeter realized she probably should be listening, but took the speech as a chance to stare into his eyes.

ooo

Grizabella pushed on the hard, cold ground, willing herself to get out of the puddle she was currently sprawled in. She was separated from her tribe, forgotten, lost, rejected. On top of all of what she was before, she was now ugly and weak. She was not sure what exactly happened, but she felt as if she had been ravaged by angry pollicles. She hurt- everywhere. She felt as if her knees would give in at any second, but something was telling her to keep going. Keep… moving…

It was these memories. They haunted her. She knew they were there; she just could not summon them. Perhaps she was too weak to manage even that. She would collapse at any moment, she was sure, but she instead kept… moving. She kept speaking.

"The graceful ellipse of memory, the graceful collapse of memory, the graceful lapse of memory, the graceless lips of memory…"

She repeated the passage over and over, as if it would gain some meaning once she had said it enough. However, for now, its only purpose was to keep her… moving…

ooo

(Chapter two up! And yay for you, Victoria. You got all the ones you guess right. Much love to you for you kind comment.)


End file.
